NYSC’s Call-up Registration Furore

THE move by the management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to introduce online registration and call-up of prospective Corps members has raised a lot of controversy which, if not quickly addressed, might affect the activities of the organisation.

The full computerization of the call-up process was approved at the meeting of the management in Calabar, and aims to begin with the 2014 Batch “C” mobilisation exercise. Under the scheme, prospective corps members are given the option of registering and processing their call-up from the comfort of their homes or the nearest business centre if they choose not to travel to their schools.

The snag, however, is that they have to pay the sum of N4,000 to cover the cost of this computerized processing, since the NYSC says, a private firm is handling the computerization project on its behalf under a private/public partnership arrangement.

The concerns and outright rejection of this project by well-meaning Nigerians is quite understandable, in the wake of theImmigration job recruitment disaster in which job seekers were forced to cough out N1,000 each to apply for the jobs. More than 20 young people lost their lives in various centres.

The difference, however, is that the NYSC insists that the N4,000 call-up registration is not compulsory. Prospective corps members have merely been given the option to either save themselves the old troubles of travelling to their schools for the call-up letter, with the risks involved or simply option for the seamless computerized registration.

The choice factor is very important, as it will enable those who live quite close to their schools not to carry out the online processand fee payment if they so wish. We, however, hope that those who opt for the old style of registration will not be subjected to any form of punitive sanction or disadvantage simply because they do not opt for the computerised scheme.

We call on prospective corps members who choose not to apply online to report any cases of victimisation, as this will expose the genuine intentions or otherwise of those behind it.

It is a welcome development that the House of Representatives has already waded into the matter with a view to ensuring that the right thing is done in the public interest.

We advise the legislators not to be carried away by sentiments but to focus on ensuring that when implemented the rights of corps members to chose to register online or not are respected with absolutely no room left open to the victimisation of those who prefer not to.

Particular attention should be paid to the cost attached to the call-up registration to make sure that due processes of the law were followed in arriving at it, and that the benefits are commensurate with what corps members are required to pay.

If foul play is suspected it should be dropped. But if the programme will make life easier for stakeholders in the NYSC scheme, let it go ahead.